1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention deals with the field of devices usable for facilitating storage of emergency equipment such as ladders upon emergency vehicles such as fire engines. Dimensions of spacing of equipment upon fire engines is very critical due to the limited amount of space available. Most fire engines are equipped with a shelf at the laterally outwardmost positions of the top of the rear portion of the truck. This shelf is normally thirteen to fifteen inches in horizontal dimension. The present invention provides a means for storage of ladders utilizing this narrow lateral storage position.
With such a configuration it is necessary to provide a means for retrieval of the ladder from this remote location to a lower position adjacent the side portions of the rear of the fire truck at a level directly accessible to fire personnel. The present invention provides an apparatus for achieving this retrieval in a rapid manner which can be manually or automatically powered.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Prior art devices for facilitating removal of emergency equipment from emergency vehicles and in particular for removing storage of elongated items such as ladders with respect to a fire truck are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,898,826 issued Feb. 21, 1933 to Charles H. Fox on a Fire Engine; U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,771 issued Dec. 12, 1950 to Joseph H. DeFrees on a Vented Closure For Milk Tank Manholes; U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,681 issued Dec. 19, 1961 to Edward V. Garnett on a Device For Storage Of Elongated Articles On A Vehicle and U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,490 issued July 4, 1989 to Richard E. Kohler on a Fire Truck Ladder Support.